In Brazil, a car like this is double the price, close to 2.5 million Reals. Growing up in Sao Paulo, I always dreamed of owning a supercar. I told all my friends, “By the time I’m 30, I’m going to have a Lamborghini or a Ferrari”. I turned 31 this year and got this car three weeks ago, so I say that’s coming pretty close. People have a real love of cars in Brazil, particularly Ferraris. Even I debated between this Huracan and a 458 Italia.
The car culture here is similar to Brazil but also different. Brazilians love to cruise, but the freeways are much nicer here--and you have better security. No one is just going to outright steal your car from you. Whereas in Brazil, if you were to drive around a car like this, you would have to have one undercover car with bodyguards in the back to protect you from thieves. Car thefts are so common in Brazil that it's kind of like a lottery. Sometimes thefts happen, but you have good chances if you know where to drive in the cities. You don't go to every district. You have to know where it’s dangerous. I’ve personally been robbed three times.
I’ll give you an example. One day I was in my Fiat Stilo sitting in traffic, because there’s always traffic in São Paulo, a city of 12 million people. (Keep in mind that Brazil is one of the three major manufacturing sites for Fiat outside of Italy. So at the time that this happened, the Stilo was considered a nice popular sports car and widely-available.) Traffic is at a complete standstill and there’s this guy walking in between the cars with a gun. He spots my car, comes over the window and says, “Let me into the back of the car”. Now he’s inside sitting on the back seat of my car and says, “Take me to the bank and cash some money for me”. Once you’ve done that, he takes everything you have on you, including your shirt and your shoes, and drives away with the car. You’re left standing there on the side of the freeway only wearing your pants.
You’ll never see that car again. The guys who steal them chop the cars up at a mechanic shop and sell them for parts so fast that they’re untraceable. The cars get cut in a matter of hours, but your insurance company pays you out in full the next week. That's why car insurance in Brazil is so expensive. Because they know how it is.
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